As Canada’s fraud awareness month began last week, the first featured theme was “scams targeting seniors,” typical of a widespread notion that older people are the most susceptible among us to consumer swindlers.

A surprising new study to be presented at a conference this week, however, shatters that idea, suggesting, if anything, that senior citizens may be less likely than people in other age groups to fall victim to con artists.

Data from large U.S. surveys and registries of fraud complaints indicate the percentage of victims peaks in late middle age, then declines as people get older, concluded the research spearheaded by Michael Ross, a University of Waterloo social psychologist.

Some scientists have theorized that memory loss and other cognitive deficits common to aging make seniors more vulnerable to being defrauded. It is possible, however, that those neurological weaknesses are counteracted by something more mundane: the fact the elderly are simply more “risk averse,” said Prof. Ross.
“As people age their goal orientation changes from trying to maximize gains, to trying to minimize losses,” he said. “They spend less money, and they’re more careful about spending their money.”

They are inadvertently providing what seems to be a scientific basis for this stereotype

The findings might also mean that anti-fraud research and initiatives focusing on seniors — including laws in some U.S. states that actually set stiffer penalties for defrauding older victims — are unnecessary, and reinforcing a false image, he said.

“Part of my concern with psychologists is that they are inadvertently providing what seems to be a scientific basis for this stereotype,” said Prof. Ross. “When it comes to things like consumer fraud, I think everybody needs protection. I don’t think there’s a need to single out older people.”

His findings are to be presented this week at the annual neuroscience conference of the Rotman Research Institute, a division of Toronto’s Baycrest Health Sciences.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, over 13,000 Canadians reported to police they had lost more than $57 million to “mass marketing” frauds in 2013. It is estimated, though, that only a small fraction of consumer fraud is actually reported.

Sgt. Rob Moore, of the RCMP’s federal policing section, suggested that seniors may report fewer crimes because much of the activity is now online, and older people tend to use the Internet less.

Regardless, the impact of fraud on the elderly is potentially much greater than it is on a younger person, said Sgt. Moore.

“A loss that they suffer as a senior citizen, they can never recover from,” he said.

“[Younger people] make a mistake or lapse in judgment or get taken by a scam, we have a few years to recover and maybe make amends. They simply don’t have that luxury. It’s simply more devastating for the seniors demographic.”

Prof. Ross said he conducted the study after reading scientific literature that explored in depth possible neurological reasons for why senior citizens might be more susceptible to being taken. What he discovered is a lack of evidence that the crime was, in fact, more prevalent among the aged.

It’s simply more devastating for the seniors demographic

Prof. Ross then examined nine surveys from 1993 to 2013 conducted by American government agencies and others. All found the same thing: seniors were no more, or even less likely, than other age groups to say they had been victimized. A 2013 survey by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, for instance, found the percentage of victims to be highest in the 45-54 group — with 14.3% of reports — and lowest in the next three, older groups.

He also looked at the 2010-2012 editions of the U.S. Consumer Sentinel Network, which compiles actual reports of fraud to police, state agencies and other official bodies. It showed similar results, with the percentage of complaints plateauing in the 50-59 group, then falling after that.

Lastly, Prof. Ross examined lists of fraud victims’ names provided by law enforcement and others to the American Association for Retired Persons. Those data suggested that different age groups report greater numbers of certain type of frauds — Internet scams among the young, dating cons for the middle aged and “advance-fee” frauds with the elderly. But the numbers and types of cases were too limited to draw any general conclusions, argued Prof. Ross.

He conceded that all of the data have shortcomings, such as the fact they rely on people actually reporting they had been conned, but said it is safe to say there is no compelling evidence to support the perception seniors are more susceptible to fraud.

As for the data provided by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, they would appear to parallel Prof. Ross’s findings. In 2013, the proportion of victims seemed to peak at about age 60, then fall steeply after that.